Heart of the ninja
by Mukiryoku
Summary: Team ten's training gets a little out of hand. How will Shikamaru deal with this?


Mukiryoku: hello everyone, this is actually the first time Muki has put anything but a blog online!

Shikamaru: oy…Muki… no one cares…

Muki: pouts …Muki cares…

Shika: just hurry up with the disclaimer already…

Muki: yeah yeah…enjoy everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters

Heart of the ninja

He looked around, desperately searching for some way to escape. His chakra was running out and before too long, he wouldn't be able to keep his shadow-bind strong enough, and to top it all off, he was too tired for hand to hand combat.

"Shikamaru, up here!" Ino's voice rang through the underground cavern as she waved wildly at her teammate. Shikamaru looked towards her, turning Orochimaru's head at the same time. He saw Chouji standing next to her and waved at them frantically, trying to keep them away. Every move he made drained his strength even more, and as he turned, he felt the last of his chakra drain away as his shadow reverted to its normal shape. He tensed, unmoving, hoping beyond belief that Orochimaru wouldn't realize, but it was too late. Orochimaru dashed forward and sent Shikamaru flying into the wall with a well placed punch. As his vision faded into blackness, he saw a figure jumping towards him with bloodlust in their eyes.

"Shikamaru…Shikamaru!" He opened his eyes slowly to the bright sunlight, and saw Ino's worried face about a foot away from him. "oh, good! Asuma-sensei, he's awake!" She moved away and he sat up, his head spinning, as his sensei came over.

"You did better than I expected…but you're always surprising me Shikamaru." Asuma held out his hand, and Shikamaru took it, accepting the help. As he stood up, he saw Ino and Chouji watching him and his annoyance came back. They had distracted him, causing him to lose control of his chakra and waste his strength. He tried to walk towards them, but his body ached with every movement and he stopped, his head throbbing. Ino looked down, ashamed, but Asuma burst out laughing.

"Don't blame them, you're the one who decided to waste your strength acknowledging them, if you hadn't, you could have held me for long enough for them to attack." The jounin walked over to the shade of a nearby tree. "We'll try again in an hour, rest up while you can."

Shikamaru sat down slowly, mad at Asuma, mad at his team, mad at the world in general. As he smoldered, a shadow came up behind him and raised its arm. Seeing a flicker of movement, Shikamaru rolled out of the way, wincing, seconds before the fist smashed a good sized hole in the ground.

"What the heck?!" Shikamaru stood listening for any sound, watching for any movement as the dust from the impact began to clear. A shadow loomed, becoming clearer as the clouds dissipated. Shikamaru tensed, what was Asuma doing? Why was he attacking now? The teacher had taken on Orochimaru's form again, and as he dashed forward, Shikamaru saw kunai in his hands.

He jumped away barely in time, receiving a slight cut on his arm instead of the fatal blow that would have been in its place. He was avoiding the blows easily enough, but couldn't seem to get any of his own to hit. Suddenly, he saw an opening, and lashed out, catching his enemies shoulder with a deep gash.

As he jumped away and reassumed his stance, he saw Ino near the trees watching him, paralyzed with fear as Orochimaru attacked again. Shikamaru noticed that although he was hurt, his attacks were coming faster now, stronger too. He was barely blocking the blows now, and an unexpected kick sent him flying backwards. A rain of kunai followed, causing him to scramble out of their way before turning towards his opponent again.

As he did, he saw something that nearly made his heart stop. Asuma had just come up behind Ino and Chouji, which meant, was he really fighting Orochimaru? He turned his gaze away from them quickly, facing his opponent and preparing to go all out. Asuma hadn't started to help him yet, so this must be just another test.

Near the trees, Asuma watched as Shikamaru turned towards Orochimaru again. He had to hand it to the kid, he was brave, and smart enough to keep from being foolish with that bravery.

"Asuma…"he turned and saw Iruka standing close behind him.

"What!?! I thought you were out there fighting him!" Asuma frantically looked back towards the battle, just in time to see Shikamaru fly into the tree next to him. He dashed over and placed himself between his student and the ninja walking towards them.

Iruka began to laugh and walked over to Orochimaru casually. Asuma watched nervously as Orochimaru smiled, then changed into the ninja he really was.

"Kakashi! What do you think you're doing?!" Asuma stalked over to him, annoyed with Iruka for letting the jounin test Shikamaru instead. Which reminded him… he looked over his shoulder at the young ninja behind him and smiled in relief as Shikamaru stood up and glared at the three teachers.

As Asuma turned back towards his fellows, Shikamaru began to limp off towards the academy. He heard Ino and Chouji fall into step behind him and started to wonder what they would do if he suddenly fell over. He sighed, and as he reached the academy, leaned against the wall to catch his breath. As his conciousness slipped away, he was vaguely aware of being held in comforting arms.

-heartoftheninja-heartoftheninja-heartoftheninja-heartoftheninja-heartoftheninja-

Muki: yay! Muki is finally finished with the first chapter! Muki didn't make it too boring did Muki?

Shika: Muki…you're rambling…

Muki: …oh…sorry…um…Muki is really sorry…

Shika: …mendosuke…

Muki: anyway, please review and tune in for the next exciting chapter of "Heart of the ninja" thank you!

Shika:…exciting?


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